what did you just say?

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to MY 100TH POST!!!!

Can you believe it?  And you thought it wouldn’t last.  But somehow I’ve come up with 100 topics ranging from rotten clementines to finding the perfect bra.  Thank you to all you dedicated readers that bookmarked me and check back regularly.  For those of you that haven’t been back for a few months, welcome back.  I’ve missed you.  I hope you’ll click back through the archives and see all the juicy stuff you’ve been missing out on!

But on this Memorial Day Weekend, I’m going to resist my ranting and focus on the holiday.  Most of us just look at it as the start of summer.  The first long weekend with good weather.  A good time to break out the grill.  The running of the Indianapolis 500.  But the holiday originally originated after the Civil War to honor the Union soldiers that had died.  It was later expanded to commemorate all U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country.   And every year around this time you probably encounter a veteran somewhere collecting donations in exchange for one of these flowers.

They’re called  Buddy Poppies and they are made by veterans and sold by veterans to raise money to help support our nation’s veterans.  

Now I’d like you to meet my favorite veteran, my great grandfather, John Lincoln Tyler Frantz.  Here he is off to duty in World War I (yes, ONE):

Handsome man, isn’t he?  I had the pleasure of growing up knowing him and hanging out with him on a pretty regular basis.  As kids we used to ride our bikes to his place on the other side of the lake.  He used to give us change out of his coin purse so we could get penny candy from the corner store. (yes, you could get  candy for a penny back in the old days)  He was full of sass and I loved him.  He died in 1984 at the age of 93.  I was 18.  I have so many vivid memories of him and feel very, very fortunate to have spent as much time with him as I did.

So every year I buy a Buddy Poppy in memory of him.  I always walk away with a smile and a tear in my eye as I reflect back on my days spent with my great grandpa.  So next time you see that Vet sitting outside the post office or the grocery store, make a donation and get yourself a poppy in memory of someone you’ve loved and lost.  It’ll make you feel good, I promise.